Rays 4, Orioles 1
Record: 55-40
Attendance: 14,082
The story, in case you missed it, was the nearly perfect game Ryne and Ryan put together to beat the Orioles Sunday afternoon. That would be Stanek and Yarbrough, if you aren't up on first names. Ryne was the opener and set the Orioles down, 1,2,3 in the first and second innings. Then Ryan came in and put the Orioles down 1,2,3 for the next six innings. Yes, a perfect game.
And then came the bottom of the ninth and right-hand hitting Hanser Alberto, who is hitting.303 with very little power (4 HRs, 26 RBIs), but he tilted the sabermetric scale, which prompted Manager Kevin Cash to overload the left side of the infield. Now, the result of this sabermetric strategy was a wide open hole between first and second base with only the first baseman to range all 90 feet. And Alberto trickled a soft grounder through the hole into right field. Its exit speed didn't even register on the machinery.
Two more base hits followed and Baltimore managed to get on the scoreboard in a game they seemed destined to lose as a combination perfect game. They almost made history.
On the offensive side, cold-as-ice All Star Austin Meadow managed a home run for the first time since May 28, a span of 143 at bats. Mike Brosseau, making a bid for a roster spot, hit his fourth. Nate Lowe did not homer but had two hits on the day, which was enough to put him over the top in voting for AL Player of the Week. His totals: .471, 3 HRs, 6 runs scored, 7 RBIs, and a walk. It will be an act of franchise suicide to keep Lowe on the bench or in the minors after his barrage of bombs and base hits.
But no matter what happens to the roster in the next few days, the big bad Yankees are waiting in the Bronx for the Rays to show up for four games. We'll know more about your Rays come Thursday night.
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